Ch.7 Family Members (II)
I looked at that man. His face was familiar, and I suddenly remembered the photo yesterday in my room, yes, they looked very alike! Except for those eyes!
“Huo Xiaojin! Don’t interrupt when I’m talking!” The woman’s hand slammed onto the table heavily. I trembled along with that m.u.f.fled sound. But that man only smiled lazily, held up his gla.s.s of juice, raised his brows slightly at the woman, and sipped from the gla.s.s.
I didn’t know what to do, so I looked at the other people at the table. A middle-aged man sat beside the woman; until now, that man hadn’t said anything, only watching.
Without looking closely, I didn’t notice until now that there was another woman sitting besides the man. Just by looking at her dress I could tell she was a very serious person, but her dark gaze frightened me a bit.
I turned my head, and saw an elderly man eating by himself, not caring about the situation over here. And besides him sat the man who just spoke — Huo Xiaojin!
“Sit down! How am I supposed to eat with you standing here?” The woman spoke. A servant immediately pulled out the chair next to Huo Xiaojin. I understood, I was supposed to sit there.
Once I sat down, a delicate plate appeared in front of me, followed by a gla.s.s of milk. I nodded at the servant, wanting to say thanks, but under this tense mood I just couldn’t force it out. The servant didn’t even glance at me or acknowledge me but retreated back to the wall.
“Don’t get angry, it will make you age faster!” The middle-aged man besides the woman spooned some food into the woman’s plate and smiled at her.
My head was lowered, but I glanced at them out of the corner of my eye. I saw that the woman, whose face was tight just now, smile faintly, then wink at the man. Ambiguous! That was my first impression.
“Is it still possible to eat a normal meal?” The Huo Xiaojin besides me almost threw the chopsticks on the table. I watched the milk swishing around in the gla.s.s and exhaled slightly.
But the woman glared at him and shouted: “Who told you to eat? Usually you don’t even sit at the same table with us! What a rarity! Well I, Yun Li, don’t care to sit with you at the same table either! Don’t come home from now on then, and if you do don’t say things I don’t like!”
“What a joke! I only knew this family name was Huo, since when was it changed to Yun?” Huo Xiaojin’s expression was wicked.
Only now did I know that the woman was called Yun Li, and she was also Huo Xiaojin’s stepmom! Then who was that man besides Yun Li?
“Sister-in-law, little Jin is still young, don’t be so serious with him. Eat, eat!” Right on time, that man started talking, again pa.s.sing the milk to Yun Li.
Afterwards, he looked towards Huo Xiaojin and said solemnly, “Little Jin, it’s not Uncle criticizing you, but it’s also hard on Li to lead this family. Besides, now that Xiaoran just left, this whole Huo family is depending on her. You should stop playing around and help the family out.”
Uncle? This middle-aged man was Huo Xiaojin’s uncle? Huo Xiaojin laughed without answering, and the middle-aged man shook his head then looked at me.
I gulped down my milk and looked at him nervously. He smiled faintly, his voice even gentler than before, “From now on, I will be your uncle. My name is Huo Ningen. This is your stepmom, Yun Li!” He pointed at Yun Li, then to the silent woman besides him.
“This is your aunt, An Qiang!”
When I looked towards the woman who was supposed to be my aunt, she only glanced briefly at me.